Understanding Climate

The latest installment of NOAA's Arctic Report Card confirms that Arctic air temperatures are rising at more than twice the rate of the planet as a whole. This collection of images highlights some of the key changes in physical and biological conditions in the Far North.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

When NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center crunched the numbers for December, January and February—”meteorological” winter for 2011-2012—it stacked up as the fourth warmest of the past 117 winters. Virtually all of the West received less than its average precipitation.

It is virtually certain our world will continue to warm over this century and beyond. The exact amount of warming that will occur in the coming century depends largely on the energy choices that we make now and in the next few decades.